Thanks to a ‘customers come first’ philosophy, Russellville business owner and community leader Bill Peters has enjoyed success. Some may not be aware that the Peters Family Living store, although it has grown during more than six decades of serving the community, still has an entrance to the street where it all began.

The store has been at the corner of North Commerce Avenue and West B Street since 1944. After additions to the building and a change in inventory selections, most people know the address as 201 N. Arkansas Ave.

“The store has been at this location since 1944,” Peters said. “The main and only entrance was located at the corner of Commerce and ‘B’ Street.”

“The store used to consist of the showroom area that faces that corner. All of the merchandise we carried was displayed in what now seems a very small space.”

W.A. Baldwin bankrolled the business, according to Peters. “My dad, F. C. Peters, and Baldwin opened the store together,” he said. “The store was originally named Peters-Baldwin Company.

“The business started out by selling furniture, appliances, televisions and hardware. We were once a True Value hardware store, and even sold saddles, guns and toys.”

The Peters Family Living facilities have made several transformations throughout its years in business. Peters and his brother, Flave Peters, added the section of the building that faces North Arkansas in 1974. What started as a corner store has grown and now has several showrooms that display the company’s wares.

Peters believes he was fortunate to learn the business from his dad. His father taught him everything he knows about how to own and operate the business. After his dad retired in the early 1970s, he kept the business philosophy instilled in him by his dad.

“My father taught me that customer service was everything,” Peters said. “We’ve kept that tradition, my brother and I did. My brother and I kept the business going.”

“We have been, and are still blessed with a great and wonderful customer base,” he said. “We are also blessed with employees who are dedicated; that’s what makes it work.

“Our employees are all on the same page. The sales, credit, delivery and service departments all work hand in hand, everybody works together to provide excellence in service.”

“We have helped a lot of families,” Peters continued. “We’ve had fifty, sixty and seventy year old customers and children of customers tell us how our business helped them get what they needed when they or family members were young and struggling.”

Those folks remember their parents being helped when they struggled to buy a bed or refrigerator, Peters said. There were also times when the help had a different meaning to them as children.

“One lady, whose parents were customers when she was young, told me a story not too long ago,” Peters recalled. “She remembered one Christmas that her parents were poor and they had several kids to buy Christmas gifts for. Her parents were able to buy toys for them with credit from our store and therefore able to provide a joyful Christmas that year.”

“We care about our customers, which is something that is often lost in today’s business,” he said.

There are many memories that Peters has about events from the past. The news of a fallen hero is part of a significant history that is Peters Family Living.

“I remember when we carried console televisions, I was walking by the TV department one day as a boy,” Peters said. “And I remember the programming being interrupted and the news announcement stating that Kennedy had been assassinated.”

“It stopped me in my tracks. I will never forget that day or that moment in time.”

Not many people will find it hard to believe, but when automatic washing machines came into production, salesmen found them a hard sell.

“I remember when they came out with automatic washers,” he said. “It was hard to convince people they could wash clothes the way they were supposed to.”

“Customers resisted the idea of a new fangled washer. They thought the old ringer type washer would work better.”

Folks used to use the same soapy water for several loads. They thought it was a waste to refill with fresh water and more soap each time they washed a load of clothes, he laughed.

“That was my grandparents’ perspective.” he said. “Today, many of us take it for granted.”

Peters keeps a letter hanging on the wall at the store. It was sent to his father by Fred Maytag II in October 1954. The letter welcomed the Peters Baldwin Company to the family of Maytag dealers. The letter is a symbol of the upcoming evolution in modern home appliance technology and a sign of the times in business as well.

“Getting a letter from the head of a major corporation was a big deal to my dad,” he said. “It’s something that we are missing out on in today’s world.

“Heads of major corporations don’t seem to care about small business like they used to in those days. In today’s world they just look at numbers, period.”